Horner: “We need to address” Webber’s clutch problems

Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner has said that the team need to address the on-going problems with Mark Webber’s clutch. This has plagued his season so far with a number of poor getaways from the grid, including last time out in Belgium.

Webber started from third on the grid but dropped to sixth on the first lap after yet another poor drive off the line. Horner said that the team “need to address” the problems as it is costing them crucial points.

Speaking to AUTOSPORT he said: “We approach each race as they come, we try to get the best out of the car, we keep pushing in all areas – but there are things we need to improve. We particularly need to address the start issue with Mark, and have to get on top of that. It has cost us too many points so far.”

Horner put Webber’s poor start down to the clutch not working as anticipated and once he dropped down the order, it was very difficult for him to recover any ground.

He said: “We had a clutch that under delivered and created a horrible start for Mark. We could see on the formation lap that the clutch did not appear to be performing as it should. Adjustments were made on the formation lap but the clutch has not delivered as it should have done at the start.”

He added that the poor getaway then compromised him into the first corner and from then on, he was on the back foot: “Fernando [Alonso] got a run on the downhill into Eau Rouge and, after that point, the race became fairly static. It was only Fernando who made progress from that point onwards.”

One reason why Webber couldn’t make progress was due to the poor straight line speed, Horner admitted: “We could close up, but we didn’t have enough straightline speed at the end of the straight and we lost ground in the dirty air of the middle sector.”

Jack Leslie is a freelance motorsport journalist. He has been part of the Richland F1 team since the very start and made his debut in the F1 paddock for the website at the 2014 Austrian Grand Prix. Jack also writes for Car Throttle and RumbleStripNews, as well as running a popular blog.